Soccer-Manchester City beat Sunderland in humdinger to maintain 100% league start

Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Sunderland - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - September 20, 2026 Manchester City's Antoine Semenyo scores their fourth goal REUTERS/Phil Noble

MANCHESTER, England, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Manchester City head into ⁠the first international break three points clear at the top of the Premier League after Antoine Semenyo's double sealed ⁠an enthralling 5-3 home win over Sunderland, for whom Brian Brobbey grabbed a hat-trick, on Sunday.

A pulsating clash ‌at a sunny Etihad Stadium saw Sunderland twice equalise and the result was still in the balance until Erling Haaland got on the scoresheet late on to seal the points and maintain City's 100% start to the league season.

"Too many goals, I prefer 1-0 much better," smiling City manager Enzo Maresca said after ​a seventh successive win in all competitions to cap a dream start to the ⁠post-Guardiola era.

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola returned to his ⁠old club Bournemouth and celebrated only his second Premier League win since taking charge at Anfield as Alexander Isak's second-half goal ⁠secured ‌a 1-0 win to move them sixth.

Leeds United remain unbeaten but missed the chance to move into third place when they drew 0-0 at home to Crystal Palace.

FIRST CITY GOAL FOR FERNANDEZ

Later on Sunday, Manchester United were trying to shake off ⁠a poor start to the campaign at Fulham, who are looking to move ​off the bottom of the table.

Sunderland began ‌strongly at City but were stunned in the ninth minute when Enzo Fernandez curled a free kick past goalkeeper ⁠Robin Roefs for his ​first goal since his record-equalling £125-million ($167.41-million) move from Chelsea.

The visitors deservedly levelled three minutes later when Brobbey took an Enzo Le Fee pass and placed a shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma but Rayan Cherki restored City's lead in the 29th minute when the ball fell to him in the box and ⁠he poked home.

Brobbey was a constant menace though and he equalised when ​he converted into an empty net from a Thomas Meunier assist.

City went in ahead after a breathless first half after Semenyo finished emphatically past Roefs.

Semenyo gave City breathing space in the 57th minute with a drilled finish after Sunderland's defence failed to clear the ball. But ⁠Sunderland, and Brobbey, were not finished.

The Dutch forward applied the finishing touch to a shot by Nilson Angulo to become the first Sunderland player to score a Premier League hat-trick since Jermaine Defoe in 2016.

He is also the first player to score a Premier League hat-trick and end up on the losing side since Roque Santa Cruz for Blackburn Rovers against Wigan Athletic 19 years ago.

Only ​some desperate defending stopped Sunderland levelling for the third time but Haaland finally got his ⁠goal, meaning he has now scored against all 25 Premier League clubs he has faced in a little over four years in England.

Liverpool ​and Bournemouth managed only five attempts on target in a cagey affair at ‌The Vitality Stadium but one of them proved decisive as Isak ​pounced in the 57th minute for his fourth league goal of the season -- more than he managed in the whole of his first season after his move from Newcastle United.

($1 = 0.7467 pounds)

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Clare Fallon)

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足球 - 英超联赛 - 曼城对阵桑德兰 - 英国曼彻斯特伊蒂哈德球场 - 2026年9月20日 曼城球员安托万·塞梅尼奥攻入球队第四球 路透社/菲尔·诺布尔

英格兰曼彻斯特，9 月 20 日（路透社）——曼城在周日主场以 5-3 战胜桑德兰的比赛中，凭借安托万·塞梅尼奥的梅开二度，以 3 分的优势领跑英超积分榜，进入第一个国际比赛日。桑德兰方面，布莱恩·布罗贝上演了帽子戏法。

在阳光明媚的伊蒂哈德球场，一场激动人心的较量上演，桑德兰两次扳平比分，比赛结果仍然悬而未决，直到埃尔林·哈兰德在比赛尾声阶段破门得分，才最终锁定胜局，帮助曼城保持了联赛开局的100%胜率。

“进球太多了，我更喜欢 1-0 的比分，”曼城主教练恩佐·马雷斯卡在各项赛事中取得七连胜后笑着说道，为后瓜迪奥拉时代的梦幻开局画上了圆满的句号。

利物浦主教练安多尼·伊拉奥拉重返老东家伯恩茅斯，在安菲尔德球场庆祝了他执教以来的第二场英超联赛胜利。亚历山大·伊萨克在下半场的进球帮助球队1-0取胜，升至积分榜第六位。

利兹联队保持不败，但在主场与水晶宫0-0战平，错失了升至第三名的机会。

费尔南德斯为球队打入首球

周日晚些时候，曼联将在客场挑战富勒姆，力图摆脱赛季初的糟糕开局。富勒姆则希望摆脱积分榜垫底的位置。

桑德兰在曼城开局强势，但在第九分钟被曼城的恩佐·费尔南德斯一记任意球破门，这是他自以创纪录的 1.25 亿英镑（1.6741 亿美元）从切尔西转会以来打入的第一粒进球。

客队在三分钟后扳平比分，布罗贝接到恩佐·勒费的传球，射门越过吉安路易吉·多纳鲁马，但第29分钟，雷扬·切尔基在禁区内接到球后捅射破门，帮助曼城重新取得领先。

布罗贝始终是对手的威胁，他接托马斯·穆尼耶的助攻，将球打入空门，扳平了比分。

上半场比赛节奏飞快，塞梅尼奥一记精彩的射门攻破了罗夫斯的十指关，帮助曼城取得领先。

第57分钟，塞梅尼奥在桑德兰后卫解围失误后劲射破门，为曼城赢得喘息之机。但桑德兰和布罗贝的进攻并未就此结束。

这位荷兰前锋为尼尔森·安古洛的射门锦上添花，成为自 2016 年杰梅因·迪福以来第一位在英超联赛中上演帽子戏法的桑德兰球员。

他也是自 19 年前罗克·圣克鲁斯代表布莱克本流浪者队对阵维冈竞技队以来，首位在英超联赛中上演帽子戏法却最终输掉比赛的球员。

桑德兰顽强的防守阻止了他们第三次扳平比分，但哈兰德最终还是取得了进球，这意味着他在英格兰的四年多时间里，已经攻破了所有25支英超球队的球门。

在活力球场进行的一场谨慎的比赛中，利物浦和伯恩茅斯全场只有五次射正，但其中一次射门却成为了决定性的，伊萨克在第 57 分钟抓住机会，打进了他本赛季的第四个联赛进球——比他从纽卡斯尔联队转会后的第一个赛季的总进球数还要多。

（1美元=0.7467英镑）

（Martyn Herman报道；Clare Fallon编辑）

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